It sounds like a good idea but would it work in practice ? The Government is proposing that cv’s should be anonymised and is pushing the UK’s biggest companies to adopt a policy where cv’s have stripped down personal details, and some have agreed already to play ball.

The avowed intention is not only to significantly reduce the obvious forms of discrimination such as ethnicity, disability, sex but to reduce the level of old boy network recruitment. Frankly, this sounds like a white elephant, excuse any pun connotations. The old boy network relies principally on connections, a nod and a wink, and this is simply impossible to ever eradicate. People know and trust other people and value those relationships, we don’t see this as more than a populist political spin, but maybe we are being cynical ? To us, this will just drive discrimination below the surface more, and in some ways, that can be more dangerous.

What do you think about this issue ?

Employment Tribunals govern employment claims in England & Wales as unfair Dismissal, unlawful deduction of wages, discrimination and breach of contract claims.

They are similar to County Courts but the forum is more informal. A hearing at the Tribunal will consist of a judge and 2 lay panel members. A majority decision will be required and the judge will provide the lay members with guidance on any legal issues and arguments presented. The parties may be  represented by a Barrister and also a Solicitor, although it is not unusual for parties to represent themselves.

Prior to July 1994 the Tribunal could not deal with common law claims such a breach of contract, even if the issue arose during employment. That has now changed and Employment Tribunals can deal with breach of contract claims subject to the following:

1. A limit of £25,000 on the amount that the Employment Tribunal can award for breach of contract.
2. Claims are restricted to those claims arising or outstanding on the termination of employment. So it is not appropriate for breach of contract claims whilst the employment is continuing.
3. Restrictive Covenant claims, Personal injury and intellectual property rights claims are likely to still need to be dealt with by the Courts.

Time limits for making claims in the Employment Tribunal are strict and failing to apply within time can have disastrous consequences. In the case of unfair dismissal the claim must be received by the Tribunal within 3 months of the effective date of termination. Failure to abide by this may allow Tribunals to refuse to accept the claim.

The first step is to draft an ET1 claim form, setting out clearly the grounds for claim and the remedies sought. Thereafter the Respondent will have 28 days to present a response/Defence, via an ET3 form.

Standard process once the Employment Tribunal receives both forms would be for them to schedule a Case Management Discussion with the Parties. A case management can deal with a number of preliminary issues including, but not limited to, the following :-

• Preliminary technical or legal issues to be dealt with;
• Narrowing the issues to be dealt with at Trial;
• Dealing with preliminary applications;
• Ordering directions for the remainder of the case which include exchange of documents, production of trial bundles, exchange of witness statements, lists of issues, skeleton arguments and expert evidence.

The length of trial will vary depending upon the complexity of the case, the amount of documents and the number of witnesses. Generally speaking anything trials last from 2-10 days and the process is slower than in the courts. This is partly because of the number of people who represent themselves and also because the Tribunal panel intervene more than a judge would, and ask a lot of questions themselves of witnesses.

Standard procedure is that the Claimant would present his evidence first, the burden of proof being on the Claimant to prove his case. Witness will be cross examined and if required re-examined by Claimant Counsel. The Respondent will then present any witnesses who will also be cross examined and re-examined if required. The tribunal will be allowed to ask questions of the witness as the case progresses.

Once each side has presented their case, the issue of loss will be dealt with, and finally a summing up by each side which will include references not only to the evidence of the case but any legal precedent cases which it is argued are relevant to the facts of the case.

Once the hearing is finished the Tribunal will review the case and apply the appropriate law to the facts. Sometimes a judgment is reached within hours but it may take some weeks or even months to receive the final judgment from the Tribunal. A judgment can be a complicated legal document and it is advisable to take proper advice.

Generally speaking, unless there are exceptional circumstance legal costs will not be recoverable at the Tribunal.

If the employment tribunal decides you should get compensation, they will do the sums and make an order for how much your employer should pay you, and when this should be paid by.

It may be that either side apply for a review of the decision or alternatively make an appeal. A review will ask the same Employment Tribunal to look a the decision. An appeal will go to the separate Employment Appeals Tribunal, but only normally on a point of law. There will be a technical argument to appeal a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. It is not sufficient to appeal because you are not happy with the judgment or feel that they have made the wrong decision. Only a small number of cases are actually appealed.

To appeal  you must have the full written reasons for the judgment. You must make sure you ask for the reasons within 14 days. You must put in your appeal within 42 days from the date that the written reasons for the judgment were sent out.

If payment following judgment is not forthcoming. There is now a fast track system if payment is not made, this involves asking a High Court Enforcement Officer to collect the money. You should seek advice.

Many thanks to Ben Jones, employment solicitor at Darlingtons Solicitors in London, for this guest post. If you have an employment law problem, whether unfair dismissal or any other Employment tribunal claim, Ben can help.